I love being a pastor.
Since starting Journey, I have also worked at several different things to make ends meet.
For the last 4 years, I have helped companies, churches and other non-profits with their websites and branding.
At the beginning of every project, we always start with the basic question…”Who are you?”
It is impossible to tell anyone’s story unless you first now who they are.
You would be surprised how many organizations (and people) struggle to answer this basic question.
The problem is simply this…
We get so busy with the everyday tasks that come across our “desks” that we never stop to fully ask who we are and who we want to be. Without knowing these basic questions, we have no idea what identity is shaping our lives or our future.
Over the last 16 years, I can’t tell you how many people I’ve come in contact with that struggle with their own individual identity. It has truly reached epic proportions within the church!
Our identity shapes every decision we make. If we have never stopped to figure out what we want our identity to be, we still have one, it’s just a mystery to us. Even though it is a mystery to us, it still shapes every decision we make.
I can not overstate the need to understand who you are, really.
It is the compass that directs you through life’s hardships.
It is the ethos that determines how you will deal with difficult decisions.
It is the substance of how you will live your life in relationships with others.
It is the conviction of how you will spend your time and your resources.
And, it is the center of who you are in your own faith.
Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s not an easy question. In fact, it can create a great amount of frustration in the organizations (and people) that I work with. It is so much easier to just “shoot from the hip” than to stop and truly identify what will be the overarching principles that guide your life.
If you are a follower of Christ, the Bible tells us what our identity must be founded in…
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. -Galatians 2:20
…but we must choose to craft our own character, integrity, and ethos around that foundation.
As you struggle with living life one day at a time…one decision at a time…once crisis at a time, will you stop to determine what truly shapes who you are as a person?
Who are you, really?
It’s “really” an important question for each of us.
Mark Love
Lead Pastor